Oregon vs. California vs. Colorado

[Meltz]

Hey all. I live in California, less than 2 1/2 hours from Sugar Bowl, Squaw Valley, Northstar etc. I'm considering a move out of state, and my wife and I are debating between Oregon (near Salem) or Colorado (near Littleton). I've snowboarded all over Tahoe and love the conditions. I've snowboarded in Colorado at Breck, Vail, Beaver Creek and Copper and think they are superior to Tahoe's resorts as far as snow quality and size of terrain (length of runs).

How does Oregon compare to these areas? More specifically, how does Mt. Hood Meadows (appears to be the biggest and best in Oregon from what I've read) compare to these resorts? Is Oregon's season longer, shorter, later, earlier, wetter, dryer, etc? Length of runs longer/shorter than California big resorts?

Thanks for any help you can give. The quality of snowboarding will definitely play a role in my decision making. My vote is for CO, but my wife has family in OR.

[Tantrum]

Hey Meltz,

All of these snowboard questions are important but I might suggest that questions regarding quality of life are equally important. As I live in CO, I will only address the CO quality of life. IMHO, CO has a very high quality of life. Denver (Littleton) boasts 300+ days of sunshine per year, access to world-class sporting, entertainment, and culture (http://denver.citysearch.com/section/events), good schools (http://www.littletonpublicschools.net/media/EDocs/2005_AR_total.pdf (http://www.littletonpublicschools.net/media/EDocs/2005_AR_total.pdf)), the housing market has cooled off a bit meaning the home you will buy will be more reasonably priced, wages are very competitive due to the high-tech nature of most jobs and the influx of Californians and their high salaries, and there is access to outstanding healthcare facilities.
<O:p
Some of the negatives: Denver’s cost of living is slightly higher than the national average, traffic from Littleton to the north is bad, especially with the new I-25 widening project, the drive on I-70 to the resorts can be tough at times (snow and peak drive times, especially).
<O:p
PM me if you have any questions.

[Meltz]

Thank you, Tantrum! We're looking into Idaho Springs/Georgetown, or maybe even further west on I-70 (away from the big city). Any positives or negatives about those areas, with the exception of I-70 traffic?

We're contemplating selling our home and buying one outright in CO or OR. Without a house payment, we'd be free to take average (or even below average) paying jobs and just enjoying life. My fantasy is for both of us to work at one of the ski resorts year-round, but we'll see.

[Tantrum]

Both Idaho Springs and G-Town are small, quaint places to live, that cater exclusively to the I-70 crowd, so there won’t be much there other than service industry-type jobs. The pace of life would be much slower. However, G-town has some sweet Victorian homes that I wouldn’t mind owning. Check out this website: http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=9489 (http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=9489) I would not have thought the median income in G-Town is $42,900.

If you found work at any of the resorts, you’d have to take I-70 thru the Eisenhower Tunnel each day, which might prove to be tricky. If you lived in Summit Co., you’d miss the traffic but pay higher cost of living expenses.
<O:p
This sounds like a nice adventure. If you score a job at a resort, just remember me when I want to cut a lift-line.:)

[Meltz]

I remember "the tunnel". Our goal is zero house payment for a newer home (1990's or newer). I think that alone will keep us out of Summit Co. I couldn't find much in Silverthorne, Dillon, Frisco, etc.

[elex]

Well,I'll let Tantrum speak for Colorado & I'll speak for Oregon. I agree it comes down to quality of life, lets use Portland as an example. Portland has the most strip clubs per capita in the US, not only can you drink alcohol in there, but you can have a steak. 300 days of rain, highest unemployment rate in the country & so on. I do like Portland & you have year round riding on Mt.Hood. As far as ski areas go, the best is Mt. Bachelor, they get close to 300 days of sunshine, snow is dry, closing date use to 4th of July, but now it's in June sometime, the town nearest(20mins) is Bend & Salem is 2 hours away. Bend is a great town, good little college, good nightlife.So if you don't mind a little hiking, you have year round snow by going to one of the 3 volcanoes. Also, Timberline is about 1.5 hours away,again year round riding if your in need of a fix.
later,
e

[Meltz]

Wow, elex. Had no idea about the unemployment rate. Although I'd definitely be looking in Salem or other smaller towns for that. I also had no idea the boarding would last so long. Are we talking decent snow days all year round?

[Meltz]

P.S. The reasons were considering OR and CO is because we think the quality of life will be excellent in both places.

[elex]

Well, Bend is about the closest thing to a Colorado ski town. Not too many ski towns in the NW, usually the areas are close enough to the cities & the towns nearest the areas can be a little weird. If you like meth labs, then maybe you'll like some of the smaller towns,I'm kidding.

Actually one more area is Hood River, which is semi-arid, windsurfing capital of the world & at the base of Mt.Hood. The reason I bring this place up is that they are planning in the near future to put a ski area on Mt.Adams. Which will allow for year round riding & the most vert by far in N.America, I think over 6000 vertical feet. But that could be years, since starting a new area is a little tough, especially on a volcano that is much larger than Hood.
e

[Meltz]

Well, Oregon just fell out of the picture. Now it's just deciding between Littleton, Castle Rock, or settling for a lesser home in the mountains.

[TBone]

Castle Rock is going to tack on an extra 15 - 20 minutes to your drive, depending where in Littleton you plan on moving.

I live in Centennial, just outside of Littleton. Traffic on I-70 has become extremely painful this year unless you leave at 6 AM. Living in Idaho Springs or Georgetown, you're still apt to run into traffic issues on I-70 going into Summit County. Summit County can get crowded, especially on powder days when the entire population of Fort Collins, Denver, and Colorado Springs goes up along with all the tourists that are there.

If I were you, I'd go for Gunnison, personally. You're a half hour out of Crested Butte, which has some of the steepest inbounds terrain in the state. It's a smaller mountain, but the weekend I was there, there was virtually no lift line (because it's four hours from Denver/Colorado Springs) and it gets great snow. You're probably a two hour drive or so from Wolf Creek which gets insane snow. Monarch is on the other side of the pass, and Telluride/Durango are a bit further than Wolf Creek. Aspen's 4 mountains are all with a 3 hour drive or so as well. You've also got the Black Canyon National Park nearby for summer along with Blue Mesa for boating/camping. And, I don't think you'd pay more in Gunnison for a house than you would in Littleton. The disadvantages would be, you're farther from a major city, and you may have to go over some possibly hairy passes to get to some of the resorts I mentioned. (Telluride and Aspen I believe)

T

[Meltz]

TBone,
Thanks for the great write up! I doubt my wife would go for Gunnison. Castle Rock is about as far out of Denver as she wants to go, unless we're in a city/county along I-70. As great as those resorts you mentioned probably are, 3 hours from Breck might be too much for me. :-)

[TBone]

traffic from Denver and lift lines in Summit County can be a drag. Having lived out here for the last six years, I'd take those resorts I mentioned over any of the Summit County resorts in a heartbeat...unless I lived up there and could go up on weekdays--which it sounds like you may be able to.

T

[Never Summer]

traffic from Denver and lift lines in Summit County can be a drag. Having lived out here for the last six years, I'd take those resorts I mentioned over any of the Summit County resorts in a heartbeat...unless I lived up there and could go up on weekdays--which it sounds like you may be able to.

T

it was really really really (let me emphasize *really*) strange that during prime time spring break about 2 weeks ago, there were practically no lift lines at breck, keystone, vail, and beaver creek.. even over the weekend. I think my friends and I waited like 5 minutes max, and most of the time, we boarded right onto the lifts. It was rather strange... almost surreal

[Luna]

Wow - I live in Portland and while yes there are strip clubs and high unemployment, it's still a pretty incredible place to live. You can't just take one person's obviously screwed view. A 45 minute drive this morning and I was on the slopes of Mt Hood for an amazing day of riding. The top was a little socked in but the snow was dry and there were plenty of powdery runs. The snow dumped all day long. 45 minutes in the other direction you could be sitting on some of the most beautiful beaches in the country. Portland is a beautiful city but ultimately it comes down to what you're looking for. Bend is a great little mountain town, but it's quite remote and there's not much else out there but high desert.

[TBone]

With the lack of lift lines in Summit county during spring break, the amount of snow we've gotten this winter, and the fact that I haven't been able to get up that much...something must be freezing over! ;)

T

[EZ-Rida]

Yea I used to live in Ptown and I miss it all the time (up in seattle now). Bend is cool but IMHO it is turning into a yuppie town. Plus its.... Bend. Portland is an awesome central location for all things outdoors, plus its a cool city (skateboard crossing signs, anyone?)

[sweimar23]

Meltz,

I am not sure if you are still looking but if you are. I will give you some updated info on Bend Oregon and Mt. Bachelor. So Bend isn't quite as small as everyone thinks. Bend is now 70,000 people with an near by ( 15 minutes) airport with direct flights to Salt Lake City, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, L.A. and Denver. The growth rate here is outstanding. I think the job market is ok. The key is coming in with experience. The central oregon job market is not for young people or kids out of college. If you can pay for your house up front then you are set. The median home price is currently about $310,000.
As far as the mountain, Mt. Bachelor is a little over 3000 skiable acres. This year it received over 500 inches of snow (average is around 400) and as of today May 6 has 160 inch base. The tree riding is pretty good, the steeps leave some to be desired, and three parks keep the kids of the main runs.
Central Oregon and Bend is one large year round recreation area. Hiking, camping, climbing, rafting, cycling, skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling. Lots of lakes, some top end golf courses. Pretty much anytype of recreation you could think of.
Really the major down side I see to Bend and Oregon in general is the schools systems. I think that the teachers are good, but there were some administrative decisions a few years back that has placed the school systems into budget problems. But really that is about all the downside I see.

[Meltz]

Thanks for the replies. Oregon is definitely out for us. Seems like we might even be staying in California, but will know more by next year.

P.S. I'm hoping to never have to worry about school systems...unless my wife makes me. :idea: